It took six months for the restaurant's four owners to transform the Central West End’s former Pasta House Co. into a whimsical visual overload. Sombreros serve as chandeliers. Tequila is stored in brightly colored orange crates. Homages to Mexican culture are on every available surface, highlighted by a wall-size mural of the namesake logo (the crazy donkey), depicted laughing his proverbial ass off. The jokes stop at the cuisine: Bar juices will be fresh-squeezed, and the owners (who also own El Jalapeno in Anna, Ill.) plan to have the menu items contain mostly organic ingredients. 313 N. Euclid, 314-224-5371.

The former flagship location of Saint Louis Bread Co. in Kirkwood will be the new locale for Jim Edmonds and Mark Winfield’s latest venture. Piggybacking on the success of The Precinct’s smoked brisket and barbecue ribs (“The ribs have won every competition they’ve been in,” says Winfield), the new restaurant will be family-friendly and include a large covered patio, an open kitchen, a respectable number of TV's (placed high on the walls), and niceties like a charging station for cell phones. 10312 Manchester, 314-394-2200, winfields.net

When it finally opens at the corner of at Laclede and Euclid (where The Majestic Restaurant & Bar long resided), The BBQ Saloon will burst onto the scene with guns blazing. There will be traditional ‘cue, plus curiosities like antelope, emu, and alligator, paired with what owner/pitmaster Phil Czarnec hopes will be “the world’s largest commercial selection of whiskey.” Yowzers. That’ll be some saloon. 4900 Laclede, 314-361-8282.

Mike Randolph has blazed several culinary trails locally: The Good Pie, Half & Half, and Little Country Gentleman, to name a few. Vestiges of MEDIAnoche, his excellent but ill-placed foray into Mexican fare, will live again at Público, located a few doors west of the relocated The Good Pie. In this SLM article, we called the restaurant “a Mexican gastropub of sorts, whose soul is a wood-burning, spit-equipped hearth that cooks using radiant heat,” where “the menu’s broken into five categories: crudo, botanas, tacos, arepas, and a la parrilla (translation: 'from the grill,' like the whole red snapper)." 6670 Delmar, 314-833-5780, publicostl.com.

Appropriately located in a building that was once home to Popeye’s Fried Chicken, Byrd & Barrel promises an affordable menu headlined by “flour-breaded, pressure fried chicken with a unique brining process,” says partner Bob Brazell. As we discovered in this SLM article, that chicken is “roasted and finished on the grill." Also, "yangnyeom chicken, a Korean-style of fried chicken," will be a light, crispy option. Chicken salads and poached pollo in Mexican-inspired dishes are under consideration as well. Brazell reminded us that the restaurant will have locally sourced specials every day, a wide selection of beer (hence the name), inside seating for 35 and outside seating for 40, plus a drive-thru. He’s also working on “a cayenne-brined fried chicken like they serve at Prince’s in Nashville, where the heat works on two levels.” 3422 S. Jefferson.

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, along comes an Alaskan-themed restaurant—and dinner theater! Owner Michael True’s obsession with all things Alaska is deep and long-standing, as his love of theater. The premise is unique, the location (at the corner of Manchester and Sutton, the former Blind Tiger space) is primo, and the verbiage on the Northern Lights-esque signage is bound to turn heads. If True Sites can execute dishes like Alaskan Ale/White Cheddar Bisque, Steak & Shiitake En Croute, and “kayak” sandwiches served open-face on poi poi (a Native American fried bread), then St. Louis can boast a truly rare restaurant. 7376 Manchester.

Located in a prime wedge of real estate at the other end of Maplewood’s main drag (the former Church’s Fried Chicken) will be Robata Restaurant, a.k.a. the promised second coming of the shuttered Sekisui on South Grand. Hats off to owner Tom Chantharasy for filling Maplewood's lack of sushi restaurants, as well as for his plans to add ramen, a yakitori bar, a patio, and a drive-thru to the equation. 7260 Manchester.

We couldn’t have said it better ourselves: “Starting in 2009, two Cincinnati couples parlayed 'a tent and a griddle' into multiple stores specializing in grilled cheese and tomato soup, earning them an appearance on ABC’s Shark Tank and an investment deal. The simple concept—25-plus varieties of grilled-cheese sandwich, plus salads and three versions of tomato soup—attracted hordes of potential franchisees, including Doug Mating, who will open the first metro-area unit early this year in O’Fallon, Missouri. And look for more locations down the road: Mating thinks the region can handle 15 to 20 such stores.” 1280 Highway K, O’Fallon, Mo.

Snicker all you want, but give owner/chefs Colleen Clawson and Rachel Moeller credit for devising yet another unusual restaurant theme, where the whimsical name describes the concept: a milk-and-toast-themed bar. In the January issue, we had this to say: “Specifically, it will serve locally baked artisanal bread and toast topped with house-made jams, jellies, and flavored butters, as well as regional cheeses and savory options. The idea is an offshoot of the open-faced smørrebrød, the national sandwich of Denmark.” When the cozy South City space opens, Lawson and Moeller plan to serve breakfast, lunch, and weekend brunch. 2212 S. Jefferson.

Taze (TAH-zay) has all of the requisite buzzwords: It's a fast casual, inexpensive, street food concept boasting exotic flavors and a name that means “fresh” in Turkish… Ah, but there's more: several varieties of made-in-house shawarma cut-to-order from a vertical rotisserie; pita bread cooked daily in a one-ton pita bread oven; and steak, pork, and chicken kabobs cooked in a tandoor oven. There are vegetarian/vegan items (falafel, grilled portabellos), six varieties of hummus available daily, beer and wine, and young owners (twin brothers Casey and Justin Roth) who learned their craft by working hands-on with street vendors in Morocco. 626 Washington, Ste. 103, tazestreetfood.com.

That's the tentative name for the combination distillery, tasting room, and Gatsby-themed restaurant in Frontenac where The Nest was once located. SLM preciously reported that the Pontoon Beach, Illinois–based Mastermind Vodka would open this hybrid in early 2015. All of that's still true—it's just the name that's getting bandied about. Plans still call for an experimental (and experiential) micro-distillery, a 100-seat gastropub, and a large private patio in the rear. In the bar, citron and berry flavors will join the six-times-distilled Mastermind Vodka, a gold medal winner at the 2012 San Francisco World Spirits Competition. 10440 German, mastermindvodka.com.

Simon Lusky, nutritionist for the St. Louis Cardinals, opened the aptly named Athlete Eats a year ago. It was an instant success, so much so that Lusky has plans in the works for a second store (at an undisclosed location in Brentwood), a food truck, a fine-dining restaurant, and retail product sales—all taking place in 2015. The food truck should be rolling by April, and the new store by May. athleteeats.com.

A busy corner in Maplewood was selected as the first metro location for Tim Horton's (rendering above), the iconic chain of restaurants founded in 1964 by Canadian hockey player Tim Horton. A prominent part of Canadian pop culture, Horton's is known for its special blend of coffee, as well as the donuts, muffins, pastries, and bagels that are baked throughout the day in small batches. This location (one of five projected for the St. Louis metro area in 2015) will feature a 30-seat dining room, a 20-seat patio, and a double drive-through pick-up window that will operate 24 hours a day. 721 S. Big Bend, timhortonsstl.com.

Located in the former Brazikat space just across Carondelet Plaza from 801 Chophouse, its steakhouse counterpart, 801 Fish specializes in freshly caught fish and seafood, “dock to door in 24”—as the chef describes it. The flagship 801Fish (above) is in Leawood, Kansas; St. Louis will be location number two; a third spot is slated for Denver. The Clayton restaurant will be lighter and breezier in style than the chophouse, sporting light-colored woods and seafaring colors. 172 Carondelet, 801restaurantgroup.com.